Brain hack: Researchers fear attacks on the mind

In early 2009, hackers inserted malicious code into an Epilepsy Foundation message board that embedded flashing images into hundreds of posts.

An untold number of epilepsy patients clicked on otherwise normal-looking headlines only to find themselves staring at kaleidoscopic animations. For a handful, the images triggered migraines or near seizures, according to reports at the time.

The episode might have represented one of the first brain hacks, a computer attack on the mind. But security researchers say it’s unlikely to be the last.

Indeed, as brainwave sensors for games and implantable neural devices for diseases become more common and sophisticated, a host of troubling possibilities arise. Early research suggests that hackers might be able to use these tools to extract sensitive information from our brains, like ATM passcodes. From there it’s not too far a leap to triggering physical movements or perhaps even inserting ideas.

“You could use these to directly interact with the brain,” said Ryan Calo, assistant law professor at the University of Washington focused on privacy and robotics, in a recent presentation at Stanford. “You could get up to all sorts of mischief.”